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Job openings and employment by industry comparison, August 2015
October 29, 2015
In August 2015 there were 5.5 million job openings in the United States. Over 1 million of those job openings, 19.8 percent of the total, were in professional and business services, which accounted for 14.1 percent of total nonfarm employment. Professional and business services includes legal, accounting, technical, and advertising, as well as management and administrative services jobs.
Job openings and employment, percent distribution by industry, August 2015, not seasonally adjusted
Industry
Job openings
Employment
Number
Percent of total
Number
Percent of total
Total nonfarm
5,544,000
100.0
142,069,000
100.0
Professional and business services
1,097,000
19.8
19,966,000
14.1
Health care and social assistance
915,000
16.5
18,645,600
13.1
Accommodation and food services
675,000
12.2
13,407,800
9.4
Retail trade
651,000
11.7
15,692,500
11.0
Finance and insurance
274,000
4.9
6,075,800
4.3
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities
209,000
3.8
5,314,600
3.7
Information
105,000
1.9
2,805,000
2.0
Real estate and rental and leasing
70,000
1.3
2,138,400
1.5
Mining and logging
17,000
0.3
832,000
0.6
Educational services
99,000
1.8
3,151,500
2.2
Federal government
73,000
1.3
2,749,000
1.9
Other services
180,000
3.2
5,679,000
4.0
Arts, entertainment, and recreation
52,000
0.9
2,436,600
1.7
Wholesale trade
178,000
3.2
5,951,800
4.2
Construction
148,000
2.7
6,684,000
4.7
Manufacturing
336,000
6.1
12,416,000
8.7
State and local government
463,000
8.4
18,124,000
12.8
Note: Data are preliminary.
Two other industries with a larger proportion of job openings relative to their share of total employment were health care and social assistance and accommodation and food services. Health care and social assistance accounted for 16.5 percent of job openings and 13.1 percent of employment. Accommodation and food services had 12.2 percent of job openings and 9.4 percent of employment in August 2015.
Industries with a smaller proportion of job openings relative to their share of job openings were construction, manufacturing, and state and local government. State and local government accounted for 8.4 percent of total job openings, but employed 12.8 percent of nonfarm workers.
United States Department of Labor
